I'm very curious about this because it's one of my most important criteria when going to buy a new one.
for me its:
dendrobium phalanopsis hyb. - 9 months
paph. pinocchio X transvaal - 11 months

Do you meen how long the flowers stay before they fall off?
I have some Phal hybrids that keep their flower really long

:) Milda :)

For me, definitely the cocholopetalum paphs stay in flower the longest (they aren't my favorites though), there are a few Phrags that rival their sequential blooming time.

Multifloral species I think dianthum is one of the longest I've noticed, roebeliinii lasted quite a while. My esquirolei lasted a very long time. Only one flower, but several months of blooming.

For me, definitely the cocholopetalum paphs stay in flower the longest (they aren't my favorites though), there are a few Phrags that rival their sequential blooming time.

Multifloral species I think dianthum is one of the longest I've noticed, roebeliinii lasted quite a while. My esquirolei lasted a very long time. Only one flower, but several months of blooming.

Have some maudiae types that stay open for 3 or 4 months. I don't like to let them do that, but they will. The plant that holds my record for longest lasting flowers (each flower lasting forever, not a sequential bloomer) has to be Ascda. Chocolate Con Queso (I love that name). That kept the same spike for the better part of 5 months this year. Perhaps it was the cool weather during the winter.

Have some maudiae types that stay open for 3 or 4 months. I don't like to let them do that, but they will.

Rob, what's the harm in letting them stay open so long? not that I have that problem yet. :wink:

Do you meen how long the flowers stay before they fall off?
it can be either a single flower or a whole spike.

The mature sequential Paphs and Phrags can keep on blooming for years non stop. The multiflorals can stay in bloom for months. My hainanense and esquirolei are uniflorals but the flowers are very long lasting.

Among my Paphs my spicerianum held a bloom in pristine condition for five months but then took two years to bloom again. My niveum just dropped its flower after something between two and three months.

it can be either a single flower or a whole spike.

I have a yellow Phal hybrid, I think I bought three years ago, and it has been blooming since - except a couple of months rest. And the flowers last more than 6 months!!

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii. The flowers can last 8 months or more. Right now I have a small one in a 2" pot that has 4 flowers and one bud. It has been in bloom since early March. The flowers are enormous compared to the plant as well so you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Have some maudiae types that stay open for 3 or 4 months. I don't like to let them do that, but they will.

Rob, what's the harm in letting them stay open so long? not that I have that problem yet. :wink:

Think of it like a bank account. You start with a balance of money. In this case, let us equate money with energy. Energy goes into the bank account from your employer, and goes out to pay your bills.

Plants are remarkably similar to bank accounts. Enter all the obvious puns and jokes in this space _____ . Plants earn energy through photosynthesis. The sun is only up for so long during the day, so they can only earn more energy by growing more leaves. Everything a plant does costs energy. Growing roots and leaves costs energy. Maintaining the roots and leaves costs energy too (like the electric bill). Growing a flower is energy expensive. Maintaining the flower costs energy too. Flowers are like romantic getaway vacations for orchids. Costs a lot of energy to get to Aruba (plane tickets) and hang out on the beach (food and lodging). Granted, it probably costs more for the plane tickets than the housing, but if you stay in Aruba looking for a mate too long, your bank account will be empty.

Now, with that little analogy etched into our skulls for life, what happens if we let a plant bloom too long? There is only so much energy to go around. Anything the plant spends on romantic endeavors is energy that can't be spent growing new roots and leaves. The roots and leaves are the investments that pay interest (more energy to spend later!). So, a young plant is better off investing its money on the future, although you can't really expect them to stop thinking about sex altogether... A large, old, mature plant has money to spare, so it can invest in really expensive vacations (bigger flowers and lots of them), and can probably afford to stay on vacation longer. And that is just the looking for a mate part. If procreation actually happens, we all know that that costs a whole lot of money and time. This is why we don't hang too many capsules on a plant, and try to avoid pollinating a young plant.

That is the basic theory made (no doubt) stupid. Leaving flowers on a plant too long diverts energy from other purposes. We have to balance that with our desire to see flowers... Some plants may produce far more energy than they can burn up with flowers. Great, let them bloom forever.

Thanks for the explanation, Professor :wink:
Now would it be possible to supplement a plant's energy by providing more light (say a few extra hours a day with artificial light), fertilizer, etc. to provide it with the extra energy to stay in bloom longer with less growth set-back? Or do plants need rest on a daily basis?

Ahhh...Dr. Evil explains the birds and the bees.....I knew it was just a matter of time!

ROTFLMAO!!!

(and how did I miss that last night??)
Too funny...good analogy too.

:clap: I love that analogy! :clap:

As far as plants staying in bloom I have several pleurothallids, a bulbo, and my cocholpetalums that are always in bloom. The individual blooms last for a few days to about a month for the cochlo's.

For a single flower lasting a long time I would say my esquirolei. 3 months is about average per flower, but I don't recall what the max time is.

Thanks for the explanation, Professor :wink:
Now would it be possible to supplement a plant's energy by providing more light (say a few extra hours a day with artificial light), fertilizer, etc. to provide it with the extra energy to stay in bloom longer with less growth set-back? Or do plants need rest on a daily basis?

You could apply more light, either in intensity or duration. But there is a limit. Very few plants will do well with continuous illumination. They require a period of dark. In some plants that is the time that they actually use those sugars they have been making during the day. Not all plants though. Not sure where orchids fall in there.

And yes, of course, if you supply better conditions to a plant you can get better blooms that last longer. We all should know that, just from experience. Again, however, there is a limit to how much fertilizer a plant can utilize (and too much is toxic), light intensity a plant can use or tolerate, how much water can be used, etc. I'd say even the very best growers aren't growing at full optimum. Especially since what is good for one plant might be not so good for another, and everybody has mixed collections.

But, we grow these things for the flowers. So we might as well enjoy them. My point was that it is usually at least a little detrimental to leave the flowers on too long. But orchids are quite adaptable, so they will recover if you stress them a bit. If they are otherwise happy and healthy, that is.

Flowering period for my paphs in tropical weather:

concolor - 8 - 10 weeks
niveum - 6 - 8 weeks
leucochilum - 6 weeks
stonei - 4 weeks
philippinense - 4 weeks.